Elaine Gimblet, equine therapy volunteer, has two passions in life: being around horses and being around kids. She received her first pony at age 8; by age 11 she began teaching horseback riding lessons and continued this throughout high school and college. During her work years as a teacher, Elaine loved working hands-on with the students. After she retired, Elaine says she didn’t quite know what to do with herself until she saw an ad to be a leader for Hearts and Hooves.

“I knew that I wanted to be around horses, and this volunteer opportunity sounded good to me,” said Gimblet. “It’s a really good feeling that you’re making a difference, to know you’re helping is so rewarding.”

Stacy Alberson, occupational therapist, explains how the volunteer as a leader is especially important because their job directly affects their clients. Alberson says a typical session at the barn consists of a volunteer getting the horse ready – deciding what tack they need for the ride, and which horse would work best for the client and their needs for their individual movements.

“Elaine always greets the children with a smile and with their name, and that is so important,” said Alberson. “We may start the day with grooming, or introductions, and petting, or even just start by getting on and riding – but everything we do out here has a purpose.”

Alberson says Gimblet is very patient with the horses and the therapists, which allows their clients to also stay in a nice calm place, without having a reaction.

“That’s the key to being an amazing volunteer,” said Alberson. “She really understands the purpose of what she’s doing, why she’s doing it, and truly knowing the benefit behind it.”

Jeff Hearne, parent of Ethan, a Hearts and Hooves client, speaks to just how important it is to have a familiar face in the arena when the children come to do their therapy.

“Knowing that Ethan is familiar with the people who he comes out here with really helps him progress with his therapies,” said Hearne. “Elaine has been leading Ethan for quite some time. It makes me feel good, knowing that there are people who are caring, and who want to do this.”

The MarCom Award-winning videos are available via Arvest’s social media channels – YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and the Arvest Blog – and the bank will make related posts each time a new story appears. Additionally, Arvest social media followers can help spread the word about these inspiring community members by sharing, liking and retweeting the videos. Gimblet's video launched on June 8.

The MarCom Award-winning videos are available via Arvest’s social media channels – YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and the Arvest Blog – and the bank will make related posts each time a new story appears. Additionally, Arvest social media followers can help spread the word about these inspiring community members by sharing, liking and retweeting the videos. Gimblet’s video launched on June 8.

Arvest Bank

Arvest Bank, named by Forbes magazine as one of “America’s Best Large Employers” for 2018, operates more than 250 bank branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas through a group of 15 locally managed banks, each with its own board and management team. These banks serve customers in more than 120 communities, with extended weekday banking hours at many locations. Arvest also provides a wide range of banking services including loans, deposits, treasury management, credit cards, mortgage loans and mortgage servicing. Arvest is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC.

Terry Hartwick set out to serve his community by providing a safe, all-inclusive place for park-goers of all ages and abilities to play together.

“Everybody should be able to play on playgrounds,” Hartwick said. “No matter what their capacity, it’s for all people.”

Terry Hartwick is the 30th person and 14th Arkansan to be featured in Arvest Bank’s People Helping People video series. The series is designed to celebrate individuals in the communities Arvest serves who are uniquely making a difference. The idea came from the bank’s mission statement: “People helping people find financial solutions for life.”

When he first began the project for the One Hart Playground, Hartwick admits he was a novice. He relied on parents who had the desire to do something special within the community.

“I just knew I could raise the money and put it together,” Hartwick said. “It was a community effort. The biggest thing was the individuals.”

Inside the park a sign is displayed with hundreds of donor names on it.

“It’s a special park, it really is. There’s all kids playing on it, and it’s easy for parents and grandparents to bring their kids because it’s enclosed. It takes care of everybody, no matter what their capacity.”

Amber Havens, therapeutic recreation coordinator, said before the One Heart Playground opened, an entire community of people were not being served.

“Families have been lobbying for this type of park for a long time,” Havens said. “It took somebody like Terry to make that heart connection and really push through on the business side. He’s a bit of a bulldog when he gets something he’s passionate about.”

Ruth Eyres, a North Little Rock parent, says her daughter has multiple disabilities, and in the past when they wanted to go to an all-inclusive park, it meant going out of town, because there was nothing near their house.

“When we’ve gone to other playgrounds, my daughter would not try things like the slide or things that were elevated off the ground because it would have steps — she’s not as comfortable with steps,” Eyres said.

Now at the One Heart Playground, children of all ages and abilities utilize the multi-functional playground equipment and sensory-engaging additions. Eyres says her daughter takes her fingers and runs down the different buttons to access the different types of music.

“You’ll see the excitement when she finds the type of music that she likes most because she will just laugh and smile, and her whole face will light up from the joy of being here on the playground,” Eyres said. “Being all-inclusive, to me, means that it’s just a place where kids can play together and develop friendships.”

“It was needed. We’ll keep moving forward and keep improving on it,” Hartwick said. “Is it life work? I do enjoy it – I will say that.”

The MarCom Award-winning videos are available via Arvest’s social media channels – YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and the Arvest Blog – and the bank will make related posts each time a new story appears. Additionally, Arvest social media followers can help spread the word about these inspiring community members by sharing, liking and retweeting the videos. Hartwick’s video launched on March 30.

About Arvest

Arvest Bank, named by Forbes magazine as one of “America’s Best Large Employers” for 2017, operates more than 250 bank branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas through a group of 15 locally managed banks, each with its own board and management team. These banks serve customers in more than 120 communities, with extended weekday banking hours at many locations. Arvest also provides a wide range of banking services including loans, deposits, treasury management, credit cards, mortgage loans and mortgage servicing. Arvest is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC.

Beach Fosters Change Through Empowerment

“North Tulsa is an area of a lot of hurt, a lot of pain,” he said, ticking off a list of woes – poverty, unemployment, crime and illiteracy, among others – that long have plagued its residents.

Fortunately for those who live in north Tulsa, Beach is as passionate as he is candid. The founder of Tulsa YouthWorks, Beach moved to the area more than 15 years ago, and for the last 10 has poured his time and energy into creating a sea change. He has done so by working with the future of north Tulsa, its children.

“We really felt like, ‘These kids are very talented. Is there something we can do?’” Beach said. “Not just help them with food, not just help them with recreation and field trips, but is there a way we can actually empower them to help change their own community?"

Beach and those at Tulsa YouthWorks work with about 200 kids a year, using an after-school program and various camps to spend more than 200 days a year with them. The organization’s Pizza Factory teaches the children how to make pizzas and serve others.

The service piece is critical, Beach said. In addition to making one pizza they take home for their families, each child makes another pizza to give to homeless or other needy north Tulsa residents.

“The reason why we have them go out… If all we do is serve the kids and help them out with their lives, they'll be appreciative, but they're still in a victim mindset because of all the stuff that they've gone through in their life,” Beach said. “When we empower them to go out and serve others, it changes their whole mindset.”

Beach is the 29th person to be featured in Arvest Bank’s People Helping People video series. The series is designed to celebrate individuals in the communities Arvest serves who are uniquely making a difference. The idea came from the bank’s mission statement: “People helping people find financial solutions for life.”

There are other components to Tulsa YouthWorks, including kids who go from making and delivering pizzas to making presentations to churches, businesses and civic groups in an effort to sell more pizzas. Part of each sale goes into a college savings fund in the name of the child who sold the pizza.

Again, the idea is empowerment.

“A lot of the kids, they start out when they're in kindergarten,” Beach said. “If you can imagine, all these years of making pizzas and selling pizzas, we hope to have a good, substantial amount for them when they’re ready for college.

“We're looking for companies out there who want to match the children, match all the scholarship funds so that when they go, it's not even what they've sold, but even double that. Again, the number one reason we find why these children don't go to college, flat-out their parents don't have the money to send them, and so that means the children don't get equipped to live out their dreams.”

Even for the kids who may not go to college, Beach believes Tulsa YouthWorks provides them with a foundation for success by helping them academically and teaching them life skills.

“The biggest ways that we define success at YouthWorks is, ‘Do the kids come and do they always feel loved here?’” Beach said. “Do they feel accepted? Do they feel like somebody actually believes in them? Do they feel like somebody is going to be there for them no matter what? That's why we're here 204 days out of the year.”

The award-winning videos are available via Arvest’s social media channels – YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and the Arvest Blog – and the bank will make related posts each time a new story appears. Additionally, Arvest social media followers can help spread the word about these inspiring community members by sharing, liking and retweeting the videos. Beach’s video launched on March 2.

About Arvest Bank

Arvest Bank, named by Forbes magazine as one of “America’s Best Large Employers” for 2017, operates more than 250 bank branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas through a group of 15 locally managed banks, each with its own board and management team. These banks serve customers in more than 120 communities, with extended weekday banking hours at many locations. Arvest also provides a wide range of banking services including loans, deposits, treasury management, credit cards, mortgage loans and mortgage servicing. Arvest is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC.

Arvest Bank recently received three awards for our People Helping People video series during the annual AVA Digital Awards. The competition recognizes “outstanding work by creative professionals involved in the concept, direction, design and production of media that is part of the evolution of digital communication.”

Arvest won a Platinum Award for the series itself, which highlights individuals in the communities Arvest serves who are uniquely making a difference in the lives of others. The idea came from the bank’s mission statement: “People helping people find financial solutions for life.” Arvest also won a Gold Award for the video featuring Little Rock’s Louise Allison and an Honorable Mention for the video featuring Angie Walters of Tulsa.

This is the second round of recognition for the People Helping People series, which won three MarCom Awards in 2017. The People Helping People series launched in August 2016, and has received more than 400,000 total views. The videos are available via Arvest’s YouTube, Facebook and Instagram channels. Arvest social media followers can help spread the word about these inspiring community members by sharing, liking and retweeting the videos.

The AVA Digital Awards program is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP). Roughly 2,500 entries were expected to be submitted. Judges are industry professionals who look for “companies and individuals whose talents exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry.”

Ramsay Short is the 28th person and 13th Arkansan to be featured in Arvest Bank’s People Helping People video series. The series is designed to celebrate individuals in the communities Arvest serves who are uniquely making a difference. The idea came from the bank’s mission statement: “People helping people find financial solutions for life.”

The MarCom Award-winning videos are available via Arvest’s social media channels – YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and the Arvest Blog – and the bank will make related posts each time a new story appears. Additionally, Arvest social media followers can help spread the word about these inspiring community members by sharing, liking and retweeting the videos. Short’s video will launch on Dec. 8.

Short’s idea to make pens and sell them in part to benefit the needy came after his father was gifted a wooden pen. Shortly thereafter, Short brought $100 he had been given for good grades to his father and asked if they could invest in a wood lathe to make pens.

“I kinda looked at him like he was crazy, because what 11-year-old wants to buy a wood lathe?” Wilson Short said.

Since then, the two have worked together to make and sell about 150-200 pens. And with each sale, Ramsay Short puts $1 in the bank.

Once Short has $100 in the bank, he then makes a donation to River Valley Food 4 Kids. The $100 is enough to feed one child for a year, and River Valley Food 4 Kids currently serves more than 1,000 children in Russellville, Atkins, Pottsville and Dover schools.

The Shorts do other philanthropic work as well, but making the pens, which take 30-40 minutes to make, is among their favorite times spent together.

“It’s time that I’d never get back with him,” Wilson Short said. “I’m just proud of him.”

About Arvest Bank

Arvest Bank, named by Forbes magazine as one of “America’s Best Large Employers” for 2017, operates more than 250 bank branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas through a group of 16 locally managed banks, each with its own board and management team. These banks serve customers in more than 120 communities, with extended weekday banking hours at many locations. Arvest also provides a wide range of banking services including loans, deposits, treasury management, credit cards, mortgage loans and mortgage servicing. Arvest is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC.

Investment products and services are provided by Arvest Investments, Inc., doing business as Arvest Asset Management, member FINRA/SIPC, an SEC registered investment adviser and a subsidiary of Arvest Bank. Trust services are provided by Arvest Bank. Insurance products are made available through Arvest Insurance, Inc., which is registered as an insurance agency. Insurance products are marketed through Arvest Insurance, Inc., but are underwritten by insurance companies.
Securities and Insurance Products: Not Insured by FDIC or any Federal Government Agency, May Lose Value, Not a Deposit of or Guaranteed by a Bank or any Bank Affiliate.